Location of Zn within the Mg₁₂(La_xCe_1-x) lattice by X-ray incoherent channelling patterns

Systematic electron diffraction studies on intermetallic precipitates formed within a lightweight Mg-RE-Zn alloy (RE  La or Ce) identify these to be of structural type Mn₁₂Th (space group ). Analytical electron microscopy yields an overall composition of Mg₁₂(La_xCe_1-x) with x ~ 0.43, with 1 at.% Zn incorporated within the lattice. Variations in characteristic X-ray emission rates, as an electron beam is rocked near zone-axis orientations, are used to form two-dimensional channelling patterns, termed X-ray incoherent channelling patterns. This channelling contrast enables a specific sublattice site that is occupied by Zn to be unambiguously identified within the Mg₁₂RE lattice. The particular sublattice site is denoted by the Wyckoff letter f, and is one of the three different Mg sublattice sites f, i and j. Of these three sites, the Wigner-Seitz cell that is centred on the f sublattice site has the largest Mg-RE interatomic distance, and therefore the f site is expected to be favoured for accommodating the substitution of a larger Zn atom.